In my opinion, technology is a fantastic way to get students excited about learning. With some of the technologies that have become available in recent years, it has made such difference on how deep you can explore into a subject, and how hands on you can get with the information. Technology brings about many opportunities for student and teachers alike, and should absolutely be integrated into the classroom. With this said, I also believe that technology is not the answer to every teaching dilemma. I think that there is a time and place for new technologies, but there is also a time and place for the "old school" methods of teaching, such as physically reading a textbook or using manipulatives to learn how to add and subtract. Both ways have their strengths and weaknesses, and I firmly believe that integration of technology can give a little boost to any educator's teaching styles.
Sweet Search This search engine has websites that have been approved by librarians and teachers. It also offers 5 specified search engines for different subjects. KidRex This search engine is powered by Google Custom Search and their own filters. There is also a site removal request form if you stumble upon a website that is not appropriate. RefSeek This search engine helps to eliminate the advertisements and paid links that are found on other major search engines. It also aims to be more academic than a normal search engine. Famhoo? This search engine pulls from the main search engines, such as Yahoo and AOL. The only difference is that the filters for this engine are a lot more strict about the results of the searches. Ask Kids This search engine is like a kid-version of Ask Jeeves. There are five categories that kids can search, and a helpful feature is that you can pull up different amounts of websites based on a child's age. WolframAlpha This search engine is mostly used for computational questions, not so much day-to-day questions that children might have. Google Scholar This search engine is designed to search documents such as Supreme Court cases, scholarly journals, and patent records.
Using technology as a teaching tool...
In my opinion, technology is a fantastic way to get students excited about learning. With some of the technologies that have become available in recent years, it has made such difference on how deep you can explore into a subject, and how hands on you can get with the information. Technology brings about many opportunities for student and teachers alike, and should absolutely be integrated into the classroom. With this said, I also believe that technology is not the answer to every teaching dilemma. I think that there is a time and place for new technologies, but there is also a time and place for the "old school" methods of teaching, such as physically reading a textbook or using manipulatives to learn how to add and subtract. Both ways have their strengths and weaknesses, and I firmly believe that integration of technology can give a little boost to any educator's teaching styles.Google Site
Miss Bean's ClassroomSearch
Sweet Search This search engine has websites that have been approved by librarians and teachers. It also offers 5 specified search engines for different subjects.KidRex This search engine is powered by Google Custom Search and their own filters. There is also a site removal request form if you stumble upon a website that is not appropriate.
RefSeek This search engine helps to eliminate the advertisements and paid links that are found on other major search engines. It also aims to be more academic than a normal search engine.
Famhoo? This search engine pulls from the main search engines, such as Yahoo and AOL. The only difference is that the filters for this engine are a lot more strict about the results of the searches.
Ask Kids This search engine is like a kid-version of Ask Jeeves. There are five categories that kids can search, and a helpful feature is that you can pull up different amounts of websites based on a child's age.
WolframAlpha This search engine is mostly used for computational questions, not so much day-to-day questions that children might have.
Google Scholar This search engine is designed to search documents such as Supreme Court cases, scholarly journals, and patent records.